ASTM_E_2552_-_08_2014.pdf

Designation:E255208(Reapproved 2014)Standard Guide forAssessing the Environmental and Human Health Impacts ofNew Energetic Compounds1This standard is issued under the fixed designation E2552;the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or,in the case of revision,the year of last revision.A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.Asuperscript epsilon()indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.INTRODUCTIONSustaining training operations while maintaining force health is vital to national security.Researchefforts are underway to identify energetic substances that have negligible environmental impacts andimplement them in military munitions.This guide is intended to provide a standardized method toevaluate the potential environmental impacts of prospective candidate energetic substances.This guideis intended for use by technical persons with a broad knowledge of risk assessment,fate and transportprocesses,and toxicology to provide recommendations to the research chemist or engineer regardingthe environmental consequences of use.1.Scope1.1 This guide is intended to determine the relative envi-ronmental influence of new munition constituents,consistentwith the research and development(R&D)level of effort and isintended to be applied in a logical,tiered manner that parallelsboth the available funding and the stage of research,development,testing,and evaluation.Specifically,conserva-tive assumptions,relationships,and models are recommendedearly in the research stage,and as the munition technology ismatured,empirical data will be developed and used.Munitionconstituents may include fuels,oxidizers,explosives,binders,stabilizers,metals,dyes,and other compounds used in theformulation to produce a desired effect.Munition systemsrange from projectiles,grenades,rockets/missiles,trainingsimulators,smokes and obscurants.Given the complexity ofissues involved in the assessment of environmental fate andeffects and the diversity of the munition systems used,thisguide is broad in scope and not intended to address every factorthat may be important in an environmental context.Rather,it isintended to reduce uncertainty at minimal cost by consideringthe most important factors related to the environmental impactsof energetic materials.This guide provides a method forcollecting data useful in a relative ranking procedure to providethe munition scientist with a sound basis for prospectivelydetermining a selection of candidates based on environmentaland human health criteria.1.2 The scope of this guide includes:1.2.1 Energetic materials and compositions in all stages ofresearch,development,test and evaluation.1.2.2 Environmental assessment,including:1.2.2.1 Human and ecological effects of the unexplodedenergetics and compositions on the environment.1.2.2.2 Environmental transport mechanisms of the unex-ploded energetics and composition.1.2.2.3 Degradation and bioaccumulation properties.1.2.3 Occupational health impacts from manufacture anduse of the energetic substances and compositions to includeload,assembly,and packing of the related munitions.1.3 Given the wide array of applications,the methods in thisguide are not prescriptive.They are intended to provideflexible,general methods that can be used to evaluate factorsimportant in determining environmental consequences fromuse of the energetic substances.1.4 Factors that affect the health of humans as well as theenvironment are considered early in the development process.Since some of these data are valuable in determining healtheffects from generalized exposure,effects from occupationalexposures are also included.1.5 This guide does not address all processes and factorsimportant to the fate,transport,and potential for effects inevery system.It is intended to be balanced effort betweenscientific and practical means to evaluate the relative environ-mental effects of munition compounds resulting from intendeduse.It is the responsibility of the user to assess data quality aswell as sufficiently characterize the scope and magnitude ofuncertainty associated with any application of this standard.1This guide is under the jurisdiction ofASTM Committee E50 on EnvironmentalAssessment,Risk Management and Corrective Action and is the direct responsibil-ity of Subcommittee E50.47 on Biological Effects and Environmental Fate.Current edition approved Oct.1,2014.Published December 2014.Originallyapproved in 2008.Last previous edition approved in 2008 as E255208.DOI:10.1520/E2552-08R14.Copyright ASTM International,100 Barr Harbor Drive,PO Box C700,West Conshohocken,PA 19428-2959.United States1 1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of thesafety concerns,if any,associated with its use.It is theresponsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-priate safety and health practices and determine the applica-bility of regulatory limitations prior to use.2.Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:2D56